CAHILL, Thaddeus & George

CAHILL, HARRINGTON

Posted By: Volunteer - Rich Lowe
Date: 4/12/2007 at 21:16:57

The Cahill brothers were from Mt. Zion, Van Buren County.
- -

Thaddeus Cahill, Inventor, 66, Dies
Beginning as a Lawyer, He Turned to Electrical and Scientific Study
Had Laboratory Here

Devised Electric Typewriter and Telharmonium for Sending Music by Telephone

Thaddeus Cahill, who invented an electrical typewriter and the device for producing music electrically, known as the telharmonium, died suddenly at 10 o’clock yesterday morning of a heart attack at his home, 316 West Eighty-fourth Street. He was 66 years old. A bachelor, he is survived by two brothers, George F. and Arthur T. Cahill, and two sisters, the Misses Margaret and Eleanor Cahill, all of this city.

Dr. Cahill (he received the degree of D. C. L. from George Washington University in 1900) was born in Mount Zion, Iowa. After attending Oberlin (Ohio) High School [where he graduated in 1884] and Oberlin Academy, he studied law at Columbian, now George Washington, University in Washington and received his LL. B. in 1892.

After but a brief experience at the bar he devoted himself to scientific research, chiefly in connection with various new applications of electricity. The New International Encyclopedia states that Dr. Cahill “devised the electric typewriter, but his most notable achievement was the invention of a process of producing music electrically by means of alternators or dynamos transmitting vibrations from a central station to receiving telephones. A company was organized to exploit the invention, but was unable to do so with success.”

The same authority says of the telharmonium:
“The keyboard is similar to that of an organ; the keys operate switches so as to bring the several alternators into action on the lines or mains as required. The notes produced are of remarkable purity, being surpassed only by that of a good string. The performer has absolute control over the notes, both as to expression and timbre; he can produce at will the note of practically any instrument, and even notes of an entirely new quality. Since any number of receivers can be connected to a single keyboard, it is possible for a single performer to be heard in practically any number of places at one time, and a distribution system was planned whereby music could be transmitted to a large number of subscribers.”
In 1902 Dr. Cahill moved his laboratory from Washington to Holyoke, Mass., and in 1911 he established it in this city and became president of the New York Cahill Telharmonic Company. The city granted him a franchise to put wires in the streets, and he and his family invested several hundred thousand dollars in the construction of a plant at 535 West Fifty-sixth Street. In 1912 musicians playing there on electrical keyboards were heard by audiences in Carnegie Hall, elsewhere in New York, and in Boston, Springfield, Baltimore, Washington, and other cities.

The New York Times, New York, N.Y., Friday, April 13, 1934, p. 19.

- - - -

George F. Cahill, 66, Inventor, Dies Here
Devised Floodlight Projector That Made Night Sports Events Possible

George F. Cahill, inventor of the floodlight projector bearing his name, thereby making night athletic events possible, died of a heart attack on Sunday at his residence, 316 West Eighty-fourth Street. He was in his sixty-seventh year.

Mr. Cahill’s device, known as the Cahill glareless duplex floodlight projector, is widely used all over the United States as well as in England and several other foreign countries to light athletic fields, indoor arenas and other extensive areas.

The Lewisohn Stadium, the Yankee Stadium, the Polo Grounds, Madison Square Garden and the Seventh Regiment Armory, all use his projectors.

In addition, the Cahill projector is used at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh; Griffith Stadium, Washington, D. C.; Wembley Stadium, London, and at Annapolis, West Point, Norte Dame, Dartmouth, Columbia athletic fields and those of scores of other colleges.

The firm of Cahill Brothers, floodlight manufacturers, at 519 West Forty-fifth Street, was founded by Mr. Cahill as senior partner, his two brothers, Arthur T. Cahill and the late Dr. Thaddeus Cahill, scientist and inventor.

A son of the late Dr. Timothy Cahill and Ellen Harrington Cahill, he was born in Van Buren County, Ohio. He attended Oberlin College for a time and studied law at George Washington University. He came to New York in 1911.

Mr. Cahill never married. Besides his brother, he is survived by two sisters, the Misses Margaret and Eleanor Cahill, and a niece, Miss Margaret Eleanor Cahill.

Funeral services will be held for him at 8:30 tonight at his late residence. The Rev. Dr. A. A. Berle, a retired Congregational minister, will officiate.

The New York Times, New York, N.Y., Tuesday, October 15, 1935, p. 23.